To Everything There Is a Season

Scripture Reading

Please stand for the reading of the word of God. Ecclesiastes chapter 3, beginning in verse one, the word of God says, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to gain and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to sow. A time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time of war and a time of peace." Thank you. You may be seated.

A Time for Everything

You know, there's a lot you read through this. One thing, kind of on a funny note, sometimes you read that one about a time to keep and a time to throw away. Any of y'all ever been like this at home? I'll be like, "Crystal, it's time to throw this away." And she's like, "Well, no, it's time to keep this." Let's see, what else do we have in here? A time to gain and a time to lose. Probably most of all, all of us are more like, "No, it's a time to lose, not a time to gain." But no, all jokes aside, that verse one, the way it starts off, "To everything there is a season." You know, ultimately that's what God's put on my heart to speak about today.

Now, I'll say as you read through those verses, you kind of also get that idea of how there's a proper time for momentary things we experience. Like there's a time to weep and there's a time to laugh, and there's a time to mourn, and there's a time to dance. There's a time for everything. The subtitle in my Bible said there's a time for everything. In other words, there's a proper time to weep. There's a proper time to mourn. There's a proper time to dance. But overwhelmingly, when I was reading this, and it opens up with verse one, what God put on my heart to share about today was that idea of what it says in verse one: "To everything there is a season. To everything there is a time. To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven."

A Time to Be Born and a Time to Die

Verse two says, "There is a time to be born and a time to die." Guys, every one of us that are here, we were physically born, and we were in our mother's womb at one point, and we were born, and once that time of being born passes, you can't be physically born again. Now, you can be spiritually born again. You can be born again. You just can't be physically born again. On a spiritual note, by the way, some people sometimes a person will say, "No, you're saying there's only one way to be spiritually born again. There's only one way to be born again. That just doesn't seem right." Well, doesn't God have one way that we're physically born? Yeah, we're born in our mother's womb, right? And she gives birth to us. Doesn't God reserve the right to give one way that we be spiritually born again? Yes. And that way is through faith in Jesus. The youth were talking about that today where Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."

But from a standpoint of, if you haven't been born again, God's got you here today. You can give your life to Jesus right now, today, and be born again. Are you born again? We can be spiritually born again, but we're not going to be physically born again in our mother's womb another time. And once that time has passed, it's passed. Similarly, it says a time to be born, a time to die, guys. Once that time, to everything there is a season. Everything has its time. We have so long that God's appointed for us to be on this earth. God knows the days numbered for you. God knows the days numbered for me. God knows all things, and we have a time that we will die. And once it passes, we are not going to live on this earth anymore in this body on this old earth short of a miracle of God. Otherwise, we're not going to live in this body on this earth again. We will live for eternity in heaven if we trusted in Jesus. Praise God.

But you know, when I think about a time to die, I think about that's why it's so important, that phrase that you've heard a lot. I remember old Derwood Edwards used to say that phrase: "You got to know that you know that you know that you're saved." Do you know that you know that you know you're saved? Because once you die, if you haven't trusted in Jesus, that time has passed, and it's too late. Do you know that if you were to die today, you would go to heaven? If not, make sure you make that decision today.

A Time to Plant and a Time to Harvest

There's a time to be born. There's a time to die. It says in verse two, there's a time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted. There is, to everything, there is a season. There is a time. Things come and things go. The farmer, if he misses that time to plant, he's not going to have his crops and his harvest come in if he misses that time because that time will pass. Similarly, if the farmer doesn't pluck what's planted at the right time, doesn't bring in the harvest at the right time, he's not going to have a harvest because that time to do that work has passed. That season has passed.

On a spiritual note, we've got a great harvest to bring in, but if we're not careful, we're going to miss it. Are we missing it? Are you missing the harvest that God has all around us? Are we gathering the harvest to share the gospel? Because listen, we're only here so long. Where's our urgency to share the gospel? Are we urgently waiting to share the gospel knowing that we've only got so long here? Because there is a time to be born, and there is a time to die. And there's a time that that harvest we're only going to have so long to gather that harvest. To everything, there is a season. To everything, there is a time. Are we going to take advantage and redeem that time that we've got?

Embracing the Season You're In

That phrase, "to everything there is a season," that's what I want to primarily speak to today. And God put these words on my heart. Chris and I were out a few days at Myrtle, and we were out on the beach, and God put these words on my heart: Embrace the season that you're in. To everything there is a season. And we go through different seasons of life. What a great thing when we can embrace whatever season that God has us in for this time. There's a reason we're in that season. There's a reason that we're going through that. What a blessing when we can embrace the season.

You know, when life is going great, everything's pretty smooth, it's pretty easy to embrace the season. But what about when it's hard? What about when life is difficult? How are we doing embracing that season? It can be hard to embrace the season you're in, can't it? You know, we go through stages, and time goes on, and you can't get it back. One season passes, and another one comes. And sometimes when we go through a hard season, it can be hard to embrace that season. But if we can ask God to help us embrace whatever season we're in, it's going to bless us.

Busy Seasons

You know, maybe this isn't quite as difficult of a season, but sometimes we can just be in a busy season of life. Has anybody ever been there? Or is anybody there where they're busy? Feel like you're busy as a bee. You just never stop. Sometimes that busy season, it might be like you're having to work so much. Maybe your job's just demanding so much of you. Maybe you got to work like three jobs to just make ends meet, and you feel like you never stop. There's a Glacia Baptista that meets here every Sunday. Their secretary's name is Monica, and I remember her sharing one time about a season of life she was in where she worked from about 3:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. every day, seven days a week. Never saw her son. Her son was two years old for those couple of years because that was the only way to make it.

We can have seasons where we are busy with work, and sometimes we might say, "Man, I wish I didn't work so much. I wish I could get more of a break." And it's understandable when you're working hard, it is understandable. But how much good does it do us? Because if we're not careful, what the enemy will do is the enemy will try to get us just thinking on that non-stop: "Man, I sure wish I didn't have to go into work today. I sure wish I didn't have to work so much." What about if instead we embrace that season and we thank God that we've got that work?

Sometimes the busy season could be if you've been blessed enough to have young kids. Has anybody ever ran young kids all around in their life? I know the Avants, y'all have. Y'all have seven, right? I know y'all have been there. But yeah, we've had times where, I mean, I'm looking at Gloria and Tabitha. We have about ten one- and two-year-olds every day alone. But we have our family. Some of us, we've had young kids, and sometimes we might be like, "Man, I'm just tired of running these kids all around every day. I'm tired of these little ankle biters." You know, we can have that season where we're like, "Man, I just wish I didn't have to run my kids around. I wish I didn't have to do this." But what about if instead we embrace that season? Because what's going to happen one day? They're going to grow up, and we're going to wish we had that season back, aren't we?

What about if you're in that season today, and it's hard? Sure, it's natural to have those moments of feeling that way. But what if we can embrace that season and just say, "To everything, there's a season. I know this season is going to move on at some point. Let me embrace the season that God's got me in right now."

Quiet Seasons

Sometimes we might be discouraged by a quiet season we've got. Maybe we had kids, and now they're grown up, and now we're empty nesters. Or maybe we live all alone, and we can be like, "I wish I had those kids running around again now. Or I wish I had this or that." What if instead, in that quiet season, we're like, "God, I thank you for the season you've got me in right now for this time in my life. Thank you for this season."

And by the way, a lot of what I think about when I think about these seasons of life is how easy it can be when it's not the season that we necessarily want for us to dwell on what we wish we had. But I think about what Paul wrote in Philippians 4, around verses 8 and 9, when he's basically talking about whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things of good report, meditate on these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Because sometimes in these seasons, it might be busyness. Now, it can be a whole lot of things much harder than that. We'll start to dwell on what we wish we had instead of being thankful for what we did have and instead of embracing the season.

Health Challenges

What about in those really hard seasons where we got health issues? You know, we talked about how much of a blessing it was to have so many people back here today, and they've been out for different health reasons. It can be hard. It's hard when you go through hard health issues. Amen. I mean, it's hard when all your life you were able to do this and to do that, and then all of a sudden something comes up, and you can't get out of bed. All of a sudden something comes up, and you can't move your arm. All of a sudden something gets up, and you get out of bed, and you can't move because your back is so messed up or your knee is messed up. There's no question. It's hard when we're in that season where our health is limiting us. It's hard. But for whatever reason, God's got a purpose in that. And what a blessing if we can embrace that season that we're in.

Because what happens when we start to dwell? What happens when we start to say, "Man, I remember the good old days where I could run and run through a brick wall if I wanted to. I could do this, and I could do that." What about if instead we pray to God and we say, "God, if you choose to, would you restore my health? If you do, I'm going to praise you for it." But either way, if you don't, I'm embracing this season that you've got me in. And remember that everything there is a season. And one day, if we're a believer in Christ, we're going to get a what? We're going to get a new body. We're going to get a glorious body with those aches and pains you got. I remember CB Lewis. Y'all remember old CB Cricket here? I saw Cricket earlier. I remember CB. He'd take me out to lunch, and he had that his back bothering him, and he'd had a lot of surgeries, and he would just look forward to that day when he knew he'd get that new body. You know what I mean? We're going to get a new body. It's a promise in the word of God.

But while we're on this earth, if we can ask God to help, "Help me, God, help us God embrace that season when we've got that health issue going on."

Loss and Grief

Or what about when we have a loved one? When we lose loved ones, it's hard. You know, my mom passed when I was 13, my dad when I was 27. I see how God used those hard things. My salvation point came three days after my dad died. God can use pain in our life for his purposes. Amen. But when we lose somebody we love, it can be so hard. And we can get stuck in a rut, can't we? We can get to where we're stuck just looking back and wishing we could have that person back. And that's normal, and that's human. But what we've got to be on guard against is when we start looking back, whether it's for health or whether it's that we lost our spouse of 50 years or whatever it is, if we start looking back, we got to be careful to not stay back because the enemy wants us to stay caught. The enemy wants to keep our minds focused on that, on being sad and on looking back and on saying, "Woe is me." Not taking away the pain. It's pain. But can God still use you in that hard season? Absolutely.

But if we get stuck looking back and dwelling back, it's going to do us harm. We got to, as hard as it is and as much as we can't do it on our own, we need God's help. What a blessing it is when we can ask God to help us embrace the season that we're in.

Worship in All Seasons

I tell you, I love the worship songs we had this morning. Anybody else with me where they were just worshiping God? I mean, all those songs just blessed me. And that one song when Scott gave that testimony as he's praying about "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord" and about how, you know, that came in from the book of Job, like "Blessed be the name of the Lord" not just in the good seasons but "Blessed be the name of the Lord" in all seasons. Amen. We still give God. And by the way, when we're in those hard seasons, it's going to really help us when we can still say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." When we're in that hard season, it's going to really help us when we understand to everything there is a season. And there is a purpose for everything under heaven that happens.

To everything there is a season. And what a blessing when we can just say, "Okay, this is where God's got me at this season. This is where he's got me at. I'm going to embrace it now. I know God can do anything. I know God can help me to leap up and jump and run again. I know God can help me to get up and walk around again. I know God can help me to do this. And if he does, man, I'm shouting out praises for him. But either way, I'm going to praise him. Either way, I'm going to say, 'Blessed be the name of the Lord.'"

Making the Most of Every Season

And I tell you, just the other thing that I was really thinking about when I think about that fact that to everything there is a season, and these seasons of life, they come, and they go. Time, it comes, and we’re born, and then it goes on to the next step, and time keeps going. To everything there is a season. I think about making the most of the season you're in for the glory of God. Whatever season God's got each of you in, I don't know all the struggles that you might be going through. I know some of them when you've talked to me about it or we've prayed about it, but I also know there's things that I don't know that you're going through. And this life can be hard. Praise God we got God to lean on through those times. Amen.

I thank God. I've had those times when I couldn't walk for a while after that surgery, and I just remember crying, "God, I need you." You know, it's hard when we go through those times. But whatever seasons God's got you in, you know, whether it's good or whether it's really hard, whatever season it is, make the most of that season for the glory of God. For whatever reason, God has allowed you to be in that season. Make the most of it for the glory of God.

You might be in a season where you're busy, and you're running around. You feel like you don't have any time to do anything. You might be in a season where you can't even figure out how you're going to pay the bills. You might be in a season where your health has been failing you. You might be in a season where you feel alone, and there's nobody else. I don't know what season it is for you, but no matter what season, I hope we're all encouraged to make the most of the season for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Do all that you do to the glory of God." That doesn't just mean we bring glory to God when things are going well. All that you do to the glory of God. And that even means in the hard seasons, whatever God's got us doing, do it to the glory of God.

Bringing Glory to God in Hard Times

And you know, I think about this. In the hard times, even though sometimes we don't feel like we can do much or we can go on much, those can be the times God uses you more than ever. I mean, to me, the person that looks like they got it all figured out and they got, by a worldly sense, a wonderful life going on, that's not the most impressive and amazing thing to me. What encourages me and what I'm truly amazed by and encouraged by is when I see somebody in a hard season, and they're relying on God, and they're still loving others. They're still thinking about others.

See, bringing glory to God can be done in different ways. I'll tell you one way you can bring glory to God is when you're in that hard season that you feel like it's hard to go on, you're still loving others, and you're still sharing the love of Christ, and you're still just blessing others when they come and talk to you. I go out to the Brunswick Cove Nursing Home every week, and I always see this guy Timothy, and he's in a wheelchair. I've never seen him walk. I don't believe he can walk, but every time I see him, you know what? He's got a cross on him, and he's smiling. You know what he says? "Never give up" every single time. And of course, as an NC State fan, I think about Jimmy V: "Never give up. Never give up. Never give up." But in all honesty, what I think about with Timothy is, wow, that guy's an encouragement. And I know where his strength comes from. I see it right on that cross he wears on his chest. And I hear him talking about the Lord.

That, to me, is someone that encourages me that he can't walk. He's in a nursing home, but he's got a smile on his face every single time. And every time he'll look at you and he'll say, "Never give up." I tell you, we can bring glory to God even in the hardest seasons. Timothy, the way I see it, when he encounters people, he's bringing glory to God because he's sharing the love of Christ with you. And by the way, sometimes we think, "Oh, I got this and I got that going on." Man, there's people that very likely have it far harder. I see people in that nursing home every time that have legs amputated; we got a lot to be thankful for. But whatever the season is that we're in, no matter how hard it is, we can bring glory to God.

You know, I think about somebody else that came to my heart is I think about Brenda. I think about Jay. You know, I remember when Jay was sick. And it was some years, but there was that final year was really, really, really hard. And I know his brother Danny would call, they would talk every day, I believe, and talk about the Bible on the phone almost every day, maybe every day for years. What a blessing it is to have a brother to sharpen you in the word. But I went over there a bunch of times to their house, and every time I'd see Jay, he was in that bed, and he couldn't, he wasn't walking around a long time. But when I saw him, I don't know what he did when I left, but when I saw Jay, every time he had a big smile on his face, I think about how hard it is to, like, you can't walk for a day or two or whatever. He was in that bed for so long, but every time he had this big smile on his face, and he'd say, "Pastor, stay on the wall." That's bringing glory to God. And that, to me, is encouraging. No matter the season you're in, you can bring glory to God.

Contentment in All Circumstances

I love, and I shared a little bit of this before, but Philippians 4, beginning in verse 11, watch what, right after Paul, right after he starts thinking about our thought life and whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, meditate on these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Because, see, in those hard situations, the enemy wants to get our mind, and he'll try to rob us of our peace. Our thought life matters. Thinking on things of God helps us. And then in verse 11, it says, "I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

You know, when we have that mentality where we're relying on God, and God gives us strength, we can really bring glory to God just by the way we interact with others. And I'll tell you what else. Of course, we can bring glory to God when we keep doing the work of the Lord. No matter what season God has us in, no matter what season we're in, every one of us in here, God can still work through you. God can still work through you for the most important things, eternal things. You know, no matter what we get on this earth and no matter what we store up, none of it's going with us. Nothing. Not this shirt, not these shoes, you know, not our house, nothing.

Eternal Impact

But you know what we can take with us? When we've trusted in Jesus, and we can take with us everybody else we lead to Jesus. When you lead people to Jesus, and you share the gospel, and they accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, they're coming with you. That's the only thing we can take with us. God can work through you whether you're in a good season or whether it's a really hard season. And in fact, I believe sometimes, oftentimes, God will work through us even more in the hard seasons. Paul had a thorn in the flesh. Scholars debate on what it was, but man, did that stop him from being used by the Lord? No. And think about Paul when he was in prison. He could have wallowed in self-pity. And he got in prison more than once. He got in prison a lot of his final years. But no, God used him to write over half the books of the New Testament. And I believe four of them are known as prison epistles. Many of the books that he wrote under the inspiration of God, he wrote them while in chains. Talk about bringing glory to God.

You know, and you hear stories about people that go to prison and get saved, and then God uses them. God can use you even in prison. God used Paul. And you remember what Paul said in Philippians 1:12: "I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me," he's talking about being locked up, this and that, beaten, "have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel." He could have said, "Oh, I'm in prison. Oh, they did this to me and that to me." But no, he understood that through this trial and this season he was in, God was using it for the furtherance of the gospel. "So that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ. And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear." In other words, Paul said, "Just because I'm in prison doesn't mean I can't be used for the glory of God." He knew that those on the palace guard were hearing the gospel. And I would imagine some giving their life to Christ. He also knew that Christians that saw the way he responded when he was in prison were now more bold to speak the word of God.

Also, God can use you no matter the season you're in. And one way he can use you to bring glory to God is by keeping on sharing about Jesus. I love what Stephen, Steven was stoned. And some of the last words we read about him saying is, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin." Talk about bringing glory to God. And you know, they laid the clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. You know who was there when Steven got stoned? Paul. He wasn't saved. He was leading the persecution. But in my heart of hearts, I just think God used that. And Paul, I believe with all my heart, remembered that before he was saved, how he was helping lead persecution. He was even there when Stephen got stoned. And can't you just imagine Paul remembering those words that Stephen said, "Don't charge them with this sin." Stephen brought glory to God as he was being stoned and dying.

Conclusion

No matter what season God has you in, make the most of that season. And you know, again, I'll just close by just saying to everything there is a season. And it's going to come, and it's going to go. To everything there is a season. Whatever season God has you in right now, embrace it. And as you're in that season, make the most of that season God's got you in to bring honor and to bring glory to him.

God, we love you. And I just thank you, God, for your word. And I do pray, Lord Jesus, that as we've worshiped and as we've preached the word, I pray you use it to speak to hearts. And God, right now, as we have a time of invitation and a time of response and as we sing and worship, I just pray that we respond as you lead us. I pray it all in Jesus' name.